Thief and the Dogs: why does Mahfouz
employ stream of consciousness narration in the novel and to what effect;
purpose and the complexity of the novel, the shift of narration throughout the
novel, an appreciation of language and style, advantages and limitation of this
technique, use evidence from multiple chapter- connection looking at
similarities or differences with things fall apart
During class, we perceived Mahfouz’s
frequent shifts between various narrative techniques. This expectation has been
set early from the first chapter of the novel. The novel employs interior
monologue- in which we briefly perceive Said’s thoughts- indirect interior
monologue- in which a third person narration is influenced by Said’s bias and perceptions
of his surroundings- and soliloquy- which is quite similar to interior
monologue with the slight difference of his thoughts being directed or guided
by keeping a certain character in mind. The text signifies a shift from
indirect monologue and objective third person narration to direct monologue, soliloquy,
and stream of consciousness by italicizing the text to more easily integrate
the various forms and ease the transitions into and out of Said’s mind. However,
even without the italics, it is easy to distinguish between narrative styles due
to their stark differences.
The
text’s first instance of stream of consciousness narration occurs here: 'Confused
cries seem to seep from the curbside garbage. (I swear I hate you all). Houses
of temptation, their windows beckoning even when eyeless, walls scowling where
plaster has fallen. And that strange lane, al-Sayrafi Lane, which brings back
dark memories. Where the thief stole, then vanished, whisked away. (Woe to the
traitors.) Where police who'd staked out the area had slithered in to surround
you'
Mahfouz utilizes stream of consciousness
narration to provide readers with additional insight into an explanation of
character’s thought processes and their actions, giving a more holistic
approach to characterization. Stream of consciousness can manifest in text as
interior monologue or indirect monologue. In the case of direct interior
monologue, it refers to a continuous ramble of the character’s thoughts while
in indirect monologue, the author guides readers through the character’s
thoughts. In both cases, readers gain greater understanding of character’s
authentic, uninhibited, uncensored emotions and motives.
Stream of consciousness allows the reader
to connect to the text on a deeper level and become more engaged with the
complexity of characters at hand. However, the technique does so at the expense
of a set structure usually found in novels written plainly in the third person
in which sentences are constructed with a high level of articulation and
syntax. The focus of stream of consciousness is to come as close as to
depicting an individual’s jumble of thoughts which can be much more telling
than fully thought out, edited sentences. The process gives a more accurate
representation of the character’s mental processing when dealing with different
events as the plot of the novel unfolds. The information presented to the
reader comes directly from the character’s mind, so it may not be completely
reliable. Specifically speaking of Mahfouz’s The Thief and the Dogs, Said is a
mentally disturbed character, and so this type of narration enables readers to
grasp the world as Said perceives it. Readers
are able to more easily empathize with Said after contextualizing the novel
through his lens of biases and beliefs, seeing as he is a character motivated
more by his emotions and sentiments rather than by logic. It becomes harder to
pinpoint Said as a perfect archetype of a protagonist or antagonist after
growing close to the main character and understanding their internal struggles.
In this aspect, Mahfouz strays from the traditional definitions of good and
evil usually depicted in literature and is able to form a very multifaceted
character.
Mahfouz combines the two genres of
realism and stream of consciousness seamlessly. This combination makes Said's
narrative more comprehensible, striking a balance between structured and
unstructured writing. I would hypothesize that his reason for doing so reflects
the great censorship that surrounded the era he wrote the novel in, which was
several years after the Egyptian rebellion. In order to genuinely embody the
opinions of the Egyptian people, connecting with laymen to identify with the novel
creatively while simultaneously escaping persecution for criticizing Nasser’s
post- Revolution regime.
Ultimately, both Things Fall Apart and
The Thief and the Dogs provide counter narratives. The Thief and the Dogs is a
counter narrative detailing the fight of Egypt’s working class with its
intellectuals while Things Fall Apart details a colonial counter narrative
revealing the authenticity of African culture. However, while Mahfouz relies on
stream of consciousness writing specifically zoomed in on Said’s thoughts,
Achebe utilizes third person omniscient to broaden the familiarity of readers
with multiple characters in the novel.
I completely agree with you when you say that he uses the stream of consciousness technique in order to surpass the censorship in place then in Egypt. It never occurred to me that it could be that. Maybe that is why this technique originated in Arabic; since Arabic speaking countries have had a long history with censorship? Nice blog post! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post, Lina!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your analysis of the stream of consciousness technique, and how it is used from Said's character. It's also intriguing how he was the pioneer for the technique in Arab world. Why do you think that Achebe did not choose to follow suit and also employ the technique?